Britney Spears says she had an abortion with ex Justin Timberlake

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In her anticipated memoir, Britney Spears reveals she had an abortion during her relationship with Justin Timberlake.

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The personal detail is included in the pop star’s upcoming tell-all, The Woman in Me, which hits bookstores later this month.

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“It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated,” Spears writes of the pregnancy in an excerpt from the book obtained by PEOPLE. “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”

Spears goes on to add that looking back, she doesn’t know if it was “the right decision.”

“If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it,” she writes. “And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”

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Spears calls the procedure as “one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”

The Toxic singer, 41, dated Timberlake from from 1999 to 2002. After they split, she went on to marry Kevin Federline and gave birth to two boys — Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden James, 17.

Spears’ book will delve into her personal life and the “abusive” conservatorship that she lived under for more than a decade. “They literally killed me,” she said of her family. “They threw me away. That’s what I felt — I felt like my family threw me away.”

The publisher describes it as a “brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.”

The website for The Woman In Me adds that the book “reveals for the first time her incredible journey — and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history,” and that it “illuminates the enduring power of music and love — and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.”

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“Britney’s compelling testimony in open court (about her conservatorship) shook the world, changed laws and showed her inspiring strength and bravery,” Gallery Books senior vice-president and publisher Jennifer Bergstrom added in a statement to PEOPLE.

“I have no doubt her memoir will have a similar impact — and will be the publishing event of the year. We couldn’t be more proud to help her share her story at last.”

Her bombshell memoir comes nearly two years after Spears was freed from a court-ordered conservatorship, which had been in place for 13 years.

Before the abortion revelation, a source told Us Weekly that Timberlake, now 42, was not going to be pleased with her book.

“Justin’s not going to be happy,” an insider said, hinting that Spears, “goes after him hard.”

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But a second source claimed that Spears isn’t trying to settle any scores with the book.

“It’s not Britney’s intention to skewer anyone,” they told the publication. “She’s just going to relay the facts from her perspective.”

Timberlake’s relationship with Spears was thrust back into the spotlight in 2021 thanks to the release of Framing Britney Spears, a documentary that delved into the singer’s public downfall and the court-appointed conservatorship over her career.

The film showed clips in which Timberlake seemingly boasted about having sex with Spears and revisits Cry Me a River, the music video that implied Spears cheated on him.

Timberlake apologized to Spears in an Instagram post after the film’s release.

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“I’ve seen the messages, tags, comments, and concerns and I want to respond,” he wrote. “I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right.

“I specifically want to apologize to Britney Spears and Janet Jackson both individually, because I care for and respect these women and I know I failed.”

Timberlake’s apology to Jackson stemmed from their appearance at the 2004 Super Bowl in which she suffered a “wardrobe malfunction” that caused one of her breasts to be exposed.

At the time, Jackson was vilified while Timberlake — who was the one who exposed her — escaped the controversy unscathed.

But as she fought for control of her life — a Los Angeles County judge terminated the conservatorship that had governed Spears’ life for nearly 14 years on Nov. 12, 2021 — Timberlake voiced his support for Spears.

“Jess and I send our love, and our absolute support to Britney during this time,” he shared in 2021. “We hope the courts, and her family make this right and let her live however she wants to live.”

The Woman in Me hits bookstores Oct. 24.

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X: @markhdaniell

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